Observatory

GUANO-1 First Flight
- WOW!

The
first launch of the GUANO balloon payload was made on June 22 into a
clear sky with a small amount of high cirrus cloud.

On board instruments measured temperature, pressure, humidity, and
cosmic rays and transmitted the readings to a receiver on the ground.

The cosmic ray
detector measured ionized particles counted in 10 second intervals.
The cosmic ray data are shown in the graph at right, where the 10-second
count rate is plotted as a function of altitude. The cosmic ray flux
initially increases because the atmosphere “filters out” the lower
energy secondary cosmic rays. Above 20 km the flux becomes
approximately constant, as only the primary particles are detected.